


out on these high hills

by allthatsleftbehind



Series: Where We Find Ourselves Now [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-09-07
Packaged: 2018-08-13 12:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7976626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthatsleftbehind/pseuds/allthatsleftbehind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the quietest moments are the best ones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	out on these high hills

**Author's Note:**

> Part of a larger collection of one shots and maybe one day a longer piece, based on an idea by the brilliant SgtMac7. Here's what you need to know: Everyone is back in the Enchanted Forest now (why doesn't matter, though there is a reason). Hook never came back from Hell. Regina and Emma are together. Regina is Queen, Emma is Captain of the Guard and things are rather hostile in neighbouring kingdoms, particularly George's, as he attempts to turn the populace against Emma.

It's funny how in a land where there are literally endless places to run away to, the desire has completely and utterly left her. But she still loves riding out over the moors, stopping her horse atop the hill close to the edge of the palace grounds that overlooks the kingdom. There, she can sit and breathe. She can think about how far she's come, literally and figuratively, without interruption for even a few moments of the day.

The Enchanted Forest is vast, unforgiving and sometimes frightening... and yet it feels like it's where she's always been meant to be. There was a time she didn't know such a place truly existed, but it had been somewhat comforting to eventually find that it did. Sharing a bedchamber and a love so big it nearly swallows her whole some days with the now not-so-Evil Queen - HER queen, best friend, co-parent, great love of her life - may have been unfathomable before, but now she honestly can't imagine anything else. Funny how things work out, isn't it?

During the days and weeks Regina had been training her on the rules and customs of their new home (well, new to Emma and Henry), there had been a small flicker of doubt in Emma that their decision to come back here instead of out into the big wide world Emma had traveled through a magical tree to get to all those years ago had been a mistake. How could she figure out this world when she hadn't even been able to figure out the other? There were too many new facts to learn, too many miles of land to map and learn to navigate, too much uncertainty as to where she fit in, if anywhere.

She'd tried to play the princess her parents had always dreamed of. Snow and Charming seemed beside themselves with delight to see their daughter home again, taking her rightful place in the royal family. But Emma was miserable. She had never been a princess, not really — and furthermore, she'd never wanted to be. As soon as she admitted that to both the doting Snow and Charming and shrugged off the title for good, a weight was lifted.

Of course, it wasn't until she took on the task of being Captain of the Guard that she suddenly began to feel like she might be able to carve out a space in the Enchanted Forest. That had been before Regina got sick, before Emma rode 10 days back from a neighboring kingdom and didn't so much as speak a single word to anyone upon reentering the castle. Instead, she'd rushed to the Queen's bedside, where she stayed kneeling, worried sick and praying to gods she never believed in until she was certain the worst of it had passed. If she'd ever truly been able to fool herself into believing that maybe she wasn't irrevocably in love with Regina Mills, the icy fear that set in her veins and the endless pit of sadness that opened up inside of Emma when she thought she might lose her destroyed that notion for good. And as she would find out some months later during a late night in front of a fire on a hill just like this, Regina felt exactly the same about her.

Speaking of the Queen...

Suddenly there's the familiar trot of hooves, snorting with effort as it clops its way through the overgrown grass of the hill before coming to a stop a short distance away.

"Sherriff Swan," Regina says in greeting from behind her, a slight playfulness in her voice that tells Emma she's smiling. Regina dismounts gracefully from Viceroy, the black stallion she'd fallen in love with at the stables a few months back and ridden exclusively ever since, and straightens her riding jacket, shivering slightly against the cooling air of early autumn. She pats Viceroy lovingly, coos slightly at the horse before approaching Emma.

"Madam Mayor," Emma acknowledges without looking back. Instead, she reaches her hand out into the open air and waits for Regina to take it, wiggling her fingers in invitation. A few seconds later, the Queen takes Emma's hand and lowers herself onto the grass beside her with a slight hiss — she's mostly well, but sometimes the remnants of the illness which nearly took her life leave behind a slight ache. Emma's heart clenches but she knows better than to mention it. Instead, she turns to look at Regina finally, smiling brightly and squinting slightly, her hand a visor against the lowering sun.

They like to remind one another of their former lives in this way, with old titles, a mix of amusement and reverence for the old world always fresh in their minds.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Regina questions softly, reaching to tuck a strand of Emma's hair behind her ear. It's grimy and slick with sweat and oil from a hard day on patrol, but Regina doesn't mention it, just thinks about how nice it'll be to wash that mass of blonde in the bath later that night.

"Nah, just... surveying the kingdom." Emma leans her head to the side, kissing Regina's palm softly before the brunette moves it away.

"Everything the light touches, Simba," Regina intones in a mock-tenor, causing Emma's mouth to go slack with laughter. Of all the unexpected things Emma had discovered about her, Regina's sense of humor was at the top of the list and Emma adored it.

"You know The Lion King?" Wonders never cease.

"Henry was obsessed for a good year when he was about six. We must've watched it several hundred times. Completely wore out two VHS tapes."

Emma smiles warmly and not a little ruefully and lays her head on the Queen's shoulder. She doesn't often get to do this, at least not outside the castle walls, and she relishes the feel of Regina's warm skin, the silk of her dress, the cool air swirling around them.

"I miss VCRs," she sighs wistfully before adding, "And I was always more of a Timon and Pumba fan."

Now it's Regina's turn to laugh as she wraps her arm around the blonde to pull her closer.

"Of course you were." She kisses the top of Emma's head, her hair bleached nearly white from so many days in the sun, and lets her lips linger as Emma exhales deeply. It's one of those quiet moments they so rarely get these days and neither one of them are willing to let it go any sooner than they have to.

They could be asking one another about their days, Emma's spent rallying support and ammunition against King George, Regina's poring over the kingdom's taxes and bylaws, but there'll be time for that later. For now, Emma leans into Regina just a little more, tangling their fingers together and rubbing small circles on the soft skin on the top of the Queen's hand with her thumb. The motion is a comforting one for them both, keeping them grounded together in the simplest of ways.

It's Emma who's first to break the silence.

"Your magic?" she asks without lifting her head. She'd been giving Regina occasional jolts to aid in the natural healing she needed following her illness, but it was a long and slow road to full recovery that couldn't be hurried or forced.

"Mm," Regina answers simply, before knowing that won't satisfy Emma and adding, "I managed to fix that abomination you call a jacket this morning. It's like new."

Emma pulls out of Regina's embrace and sits at attention — this is music to her ears. "You did?! But it was in, like, 9,000 pieces. I swear if I ever see that hellhound again I'll kill it with my bare hands. Red leather! I mean, the nerve... Is it really fixed?"

The look in Emma's eyes is so full of childlike hope that Regina has to bite her lip to keep from bursting out laughing. Instead, she nods vigorously and doesn't have a second to catch her breath before Emma's palms are on her cheeks as she peppers furious kisses all over her face. Such unbridled affection has almost become commonplace but Regina adores and appreciates it no less than she did the first time it happened, unexpected as it was. She giggles despite herself — it's rare, but this Regina in this life with this Emma does occasionally giggle — and swats half-heartedly at Emma's hands.

"Thank you," Emma says seriously, before kissing the Queen more seriously, soft but firm at the same time. It's one of the simplest, most ordinary things they do, but one of Emma's favorites. "I'm glad your magic's getting better too," she adds before leaning in again, gently biting Regina's bottom lip with a contented sigh.

"I know," Regina says when she can finally bear to not have Emma's mouth on hers, and she does know — knows how hard it is for Emma as the Captain of the Guard with the kingdom in such a tumultuous state, knows how much she hates being away from Regina and Henry when the rides are further out, knows how much she wishes she could stay on that hill and kiss Regina until their lips were numb because Regina wishes the very same thing.

Standing up, she brushes the stray grass from her riding pants before reaching a hand to Emma, pulling her up from the ground. They embrace again quickly, arms tight around one another and a tender peck on the lips before mounting their horses.

"Home?" Regina asks, eyebrow quirked.

"Home," Emma responds, and their horses begin galloping down the hill and back towards the castle below.


End file.
